Wednesday, May 09, 2007

(8 May 2007, Calgary, Canada) Grabbing onto a moving C-Train as it left a downtown station cost a man his life late Tuesday.

The man, believed to be in his late teens, was fatally injured when he slipped underneath an eastbound train as it left the 6th Street S.W. station just before 11:15 p.m."A young man, approximately 19 years old, attempted to climb on the side of the train," Calgary police duty inspector Guy Slater said.

"He fell between the middle and the last carriage of the train and then he was caught in the undercarriage."

Investigators estimated the train dragged the man about 75 metres before freeing him just east of the intersection of 5th Street and 7th Avenue S.W.

The train's driver continued on, not knowing what transpired until bystanders called 911. An ambulance took the man to Foothills Hospital, where he died.

Meanwhile, police stopped the train at the Heritage LRT station and held it for traffic investigators to examine.

Investigators were also viewing security surveillance video taken at the 6th Street S.W. platform, but their preliminary information indicated alcohol may have played a role in the man's death, Slater said.